The high school football season in Montana has come to a close with five teams claiming titles. Class A champion Laurel was among the winners, beating Billings Central Catholic 34-0 in the final and finishing No. 1 in the final
MaxPreps Top 25 state computer rankings.
That victory, coupled with its 9-1 record and tremendous play this season, makes Laurel the 2020 MaxPreps Champion for the state of Montana.
Jack Waddell scored three times in the championship game for Laurel as the Locomotives avenged their lone loss of the season. Waddell put Laurel up 7-0 at half with a 30-yard touchdown run. He added two more scores in the second half — a 62-yard run and 12-yard catch — and
Beau Dantic iced the game with a 74-yard score with less than five minutes left.
Laurel and Billings Central Catholic have played each other 75 times (BCC owns a 56-18-1 edge in the series) but never in a state championship game. The Locomotives' first title in 18 years erases stinging memories of a 28-14 loss to Central Catholic on Sept. 25.
Head coach Mike Ludwig is a 1988 Laurel alumni who led the program to its 2002 title in his first year on the sideline.
"You want to get back every year, but it’s hard. It’s not easy to do,"
Ludwig told the Billings Gazette. "It takes talent and it takes a little bit of luck, too. We stayed healthy all year long, and that was a key point also. I’m happy that we got back here and I’m happy that we got the win. It was a little bit longer than what I wanted it to be, but I’m just excited and happy."
It should be mentioned that No. 4 Sentinel (Missoula) not only capped a 12-0 season in winning the Class AA title, but won its first title since 1972 while playing in the school's first championship game since 1984. The Spartans beat Billings Senior 34-15 for their first title since Richard Nixon was president.
2020 MHSA state championsClass A – LaurelClass AA – Sentinel (Missoula)Class B – Manhattan/Manhattan ChristianClass C-8 – Flint Creek co-op [Drummond/Granite] (Drummond)Class C-6 – Froid/Medicine Lake (Medicine Lake)Final Montana MaxPreps Top 25
